Rakoff vs. The Racket

The courts, the SEC and big banks all like settlements.

Updated June 8, 2014 7:00 p.m. ET

Is it the job of federal judges to help the Securities and Exchange Commission get good press? That's one of the questions surrounding a Wednesday decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. A unanimous three-judge panel rejected district Judge Jed Rakoff's refusal to endorse a 2011 SEC settlement with Citigroup. The appellate judges sent the case back to Judge Rakoff to review it again.